The Halloween Kids (TV series)
The Halloween Kids is an American/Canadian/Australian TV series that aired from 2000-2002 on Nickelodeon (later The N in reruns) in the US, YTV in Canada and Nine Network in Australia. It was produced by The Corning/Emerson Group, Media World Features and Suzhou Hong Ying Animation, with international distribution and additional work by Nelvana Limited. A driving force behind this series was Strange's contempt toward a previous television adaptation produced without his involvement. With the assistance of multiple Australian funding agents, Strange expanded his publishing company and bought exclusive licensing rights to his series. The show was generally successful in Canada and Australia, but remained relatively obscure in North America due to frequent timeslot changes and minimal promotion. The show originally aired at 5PM on Wednesdays, but due to the nature of the later episodes, it was moved to 9PM. The series ended in 2002, but got revived as a series of flash shorts that originally appeared on Strange's vanity site FreakyFace.com, but got picked up by AOL for additional episodes. It was produced by FreakyFace and Animation Works (Media World Features subsidiary) for AOL Kids. Plot In general, the series focuses on The Halloween Kids, a group of children who live in the fictional Woodroot Village and investigate supernatural occurrences, experimentations and myths, intervening when necessary. Characters The Halloween Kids The Halloween Kids are a gang of children encompassing multiple personalities and means of handling situations. When conceiving the characters, Strange claimed that the usage of a large main cast was done to focus on a family dynamic, where all development effects the group who put aside their hierarchal differences for the good of their home town. Their biggest connection is that fact that all were born in October, and are descendants of supernatural beings that laid the groundwork for Woodrot's foundation. While they had no recollection of their original upbringing, they felt the need to remain together and solve all supernatural issues in their town. They were virtually unchanged from their book counterpart. *: Indicates new additions. *'Alison Meeks (Mae Whitman):' The leader of the Halloween Kids, hailing from Darien, Connecticut. Alison is a spunky talkative girl and the leader of the Halloween Kids. She is knowledgeable on everything obscure or irrelevant to what's currently happening, with a varying payoff. Since she was the first to discover the club's first monster, she had leeway in becoming their leader. She wears shades frequently, implied to occur due to some kind of eye disorder. *'Colleen Dixon (Melissa Fahn):' Colleen is Alison's best friend. Like Alison, Colleen was originally from America, hailing from Denver, Colorado. Colleen is a somewhat shy girl who takes on a deadpan persona when she's forced to interact with others. She often gives sarcastic one-liners whenever the situation demands it. Colleen stuck with Alison because the latter understood her better and is helping build her self-esteem. Both she and Alison were considered social outcasts because of their weird behavior, as well as the other kids needing an outlet to let out their frustrations after getting tormented by the older kids but soon win their respect. Colleen has 12 siblings and lives with a single father, her mother dying as a consequence of birthing so many children within the span of a few months. *'Gaylord “Sparky” and Brighton Dobson (Peter Kelamis and David Paul Grove respectively):' Identical twin nerds. They try to rationalize everything with logic, but get turned away almost every time. Dante and Damien have a psychological hold over Sparky, since the latter maces Sparky when he gets too annoying. Brighton hates confrontation and tries to maintain peace between them and the bullies, but backs down when anyone threatens him. While highly intelligent, they have no grasp on chemical-oriented experiments, something that Liz outs them in. The other kids hardly understand Sparky, so Brighton takes on the role of translator. *'Sam Bliss (Julie Lemieux):' A girl who's into magic and planting and is also a bookworm. It's revealed that she's a witch, but she keeps it under wraps so she could make friends easier and maintain a normal life. Sam is a bit of a hippie, frequently going out into nature and tending to her own greenhouse. She is often the victim of pranks and various annoyances spurred by Julie and Devlin, but she tries not to let them get to her. *'Julie Dallow (Jenn Forgie):' A punk girl who often takes the role of a contrarian. She employs a punk-like look and used to be a prominent street rat. Julie prides herself on being brutally honest, not caring what the outcome would be when she states what's on her mind. Julie is one of the more complex characters on the show, holding a strong moral compass and sticking up for much weaker individuals. *'Jenny Lipstone (Carrie Finlay):' A perpetually naive girl whom because of her slow wit is the source of mockery from other students, which thankfully doesn't hold a negative effect on her. She has a crush on Jerry, which stemmed from him defending her when she misheard something her teacher said. Jenny is also a very nice girl, though she's often too nice for her own good. It's revealed that Jenny is an alien who was sent to Earth due to miscommunication between her parents and their overlord. Overtime she lost her alien attributes and is now adjusting to Earth's customs with help from Jerry. *'Jerry Sandoval (Ian James Corlett):' A cowardly boy with good intentions, seen the most with Julie and Jenny. Unbeknownst to Jenny, he has a crush on her too, namely because he felt she was too naive to see his worst qualities. He tends to be a bit egomaniacal and is very impatient, which prevents him from making any newer friends, but deep down he seeks lasting friendship. Jenny seems to be the only person he could be himself around. *'*Becky Proctor (Lisa Ng):' Becky was born on a farm and is somewhat naive to city culture, but she finds her way through constant help from the Halloween Kids. She was the daughter of the founder of the Cult of Wolves and shared her father's misanthropic view of humanity until she met the Halloween Kids, whom encouraged her to give humanity a second chance. Becky kept her werewolf affliction with the intent of using it for good. Under this guise she is more headstrong and arrogant. She seems to have developed a crush on Randall. *'*Emily Blythe (Rachel Wilson):' A nerdy girl who was infamous for throwing her former friends under the bus to avoid scrutiny. Everyone hated her and bullied her relentlessly, but it all came to a heed after a lab accident mutated her, along with Julie. The kids, with the aid of Stephy while she herself was afflicted help her and induct her into their group. Since then, she has tried to better herself and seems to have succeeded, though she still fears she will return to old habits. Emily has a love for acting and science. In the second season, Emily changes her outfit. The Perrino Elites The Perrino Elites are a secret society, one of the most feared in Alison's school. They exist to provide a protection racket for the more dominant social groups, namely bullies (preferably bullies with higher intelligence than others), divas, jocks and those with professional connections. They would seek anyone who annoys them and punish them based on the extent of their misdeed. In the books, they were an illuminati-esque group who closely monitored the activities of the Halloween Kids, believing that they will carry on the sinister legacy of their ancestors. This was maintained until the second to last episode of the first season where Alison saves the leader's life and she along with her group are no longer deemed a threat. * Francis Perrino (Antoinette Spolar): The leader of the Elites, best identified by her large head sporting a bulging vein. Francis is a well-rounded yet strict leader who at first despised the Halloween Kids, unbeknownst to them, but later changed her mind after seeing they weren’t a threat to school safety and especially since Alison saved her. She would often aid the Halloween Kids, provided she shares their desire to go through with whatever’s proposed. Francis is an aspiring director and is loosely based on Louis Peraino. * Ashley Yorke (Amber Hood): Grew up in Kentucky, but later moved to Connecticut due to her parents believing that the former wasn't worth living in. She tends to be cocky, especially when it comes to competitive events and is also a very hard player, but she lacks humility, especially when she's on the losing end. Ashley used to be Alison's best friend but both grew apart over the years, not helped by Ashley's competitive nature, but eventually became friends with Fiona. She suffers from arachnophobia. * Fiona Atkins (Sandy Fox): Francis' other friend. Fiona seems to lack mental stability, showing no reluctance to bring about cruel and unusual punishments to anyone who crosses Francis or any of the other elites. Also tends to act like a dog, something she does to get attention. She is revealed to be poor and lives in a trailer park. Fiona is part-Polish and originally came from Arkansas. * Ruth Dunbar (Tara Sands): A rarely-seen friend of Francis. She has an affinity for producing artwork and is often tasked with drawing mugshots or making a visual reference for whomever tasks her. Ruth has a disturbing habit of rolling her eyes into the back of her head and manically cackling while drawing, something she claims cuts down on distractions. Ruth seems to be the smartest amongst Francis' friends and claims to have relatives who attended Harvard, though it's later revealed that they all dropped out mid-semester. *'Angela Asbrew (Alyson Court):' A bully and female foil to Dante and Damien, though she generally keeps to herself. She is cruel to her younger cousin Pamela, spurred by her uncle's favoritism toward her. Angela is an anti-authority individual, which she keeps secret to avoid causing trouble for herself. Angela ran away from her home after a fight with her parents, spurred by her temper and thick-headedness and now lives with her uncle. She used to be good friends with Georgina, but both grew apart overtime and Angela became more of a loner until she was able to make a stagnant friendship. She's the niece of the mayor. *'Dante Ahrens (Tony Sampson):' A self-proclaimed ladies man, who frequently flirts with Julie and (later) Stephy, leading to embarrassing circumstances. He is generally hot-tempered and takes his frustrations out on his friend Damien. Dante seems to be the top coordinator for the bullies and always finds ways to justify any misdeeds he and his friends become part of. Dante's appearance seems to be modeled after Chevelle vocalist Pete Loeffler. *'Georgina Sutcliffe (Tabitha St. Germain):' The school diva. Georgina originally hailed from Yorkshire and was a sheltered, boarding school attendee from a well-off family until they lost ownership of the school. They moved to New Brunswick to start a new life and their daughter would be forced to attend public school. Georgina is a girly-girl, slightly naive due to her still-developing grip on the middle-class town and is fairly nasty, looking down on people she deemed to be of poor taste. A running gag throughout the series is that Georgina always gets hit in the head by a ball. *'Phoebe Corkery (Erin Fitzgerald):' Georgina's best friend. Her appearance and social skills conflict with Georgina's standards, but she makes up for it in being much crueler. Phoebe is a misanthropic, manipulative and sociopathic girl who has managed to get her way by any means possible, particularly to get out of whatever trouble she's in. Her disgust for the world stems from the death of one of her closest friends, one she felt she could've prevented. Beyond that, she doesn't hold contempt toward the Elites or the Halloween Kids. *'Elizabeth Kitrosser, Dolly Hellman and Suzy Yuzna (Chantal Strand, Ashley Taylor and Carly McKillip respectively):' Georgina's friends, who are among the most popular students in her school and are equally snobbish. Both are better known for their hobbies, which the Halloween Kids partake in due to being friends with Georgina. Elizabeth enjoys monster movies and is the president of the school's film club, and is the more intelligent of the three. Dolly hosts slumber parties and invites the Halloween Kids to them. She has a valley-girl dialect and frequently says "totally". Suzy has an affinity for fishing and brings the kids with her on her father's boat so she won't be lonely, and is also more coolheaded. All of their last names are taken from the directors of the final three Silent Night, Deadly Night movies. *'Randall Bench (Samuel Vincent):' A business savvy and snobbish boy. He is cold and manipulative, harboring a strong love for money and power. He often issues punishments for those that cross the Elites in a bad way, yet he does his best to make sure they fit the crime. Randall has a love interest in Becky. Georgina serves as his on and off rival. Randall is a descendent of one of Woodrot's founders. *'Tiberius Kurt (Daniel DeSanto):' A jock who's part of the school's football team. He is a strategic thinker and serves as a bodyguard alongside Dante and Damien. He's a stickler for fair play and victory, but he doesn't possess the same mentality as other jocks, preferring to keep to himself and improvise when it comes to on-field procedures. *'Leland Williams (Dexter Bell):' Another member of the football team, albeit as a towel boy and equipment manager. He manages to be much smarter than the other jocks which, along with his connection to a dating hotline (his mother reportedly works as a caller there), enables him to maintain a stranglehold on the football team. Flip seems to be desperate to do as little work as possible, preferring to take shortcuts, but unlike others who feel this way he's a lot more subtle about it. He's part Egyptian. *'Tommy Kadic (Kath Soucie):' Marie's twin brother. He was once respected by the other kids back when Alison and Colleen were social outcasts, but after they solved their first case with the two girls, the kids abandoned Tommy especially since he maintained his allegiance to the root of the case, only to change his mind after getting inducted into the Elites. He often speaks in an eloquent fashion. *'Marie Kadic (Sarah Gadon):' Tommy's twin sister, who has the ability to advance her strength following an unwitting banishment to the Pixel Dimension. She served as the antagonist in the first episode, but redeemed herself after saving the Halloween Kids from the Werewolf Cult. Marie is a tomboy who loves video games and baseball (even carries her own baseball and bat, which she affectionately named Les and Paul respectively.) She helps the Halloween Kids more often than the Perrino Associates, and represents the middle ground between both. *'Devlin Mondale (Matt Hill):' Sam's next door neighbor and Damien's replacement. Like Sam, he also possesses supernatural powers and serves as a friendly rival to her. He tends to be annoying, especially to Sam, but he only does it if he likes someone since he lacks the courage to better express himself. The Raven Stakes A now retired supernatural investigation team who laid the groundwork for the foundation of Woodrot. They grew apart following a devastating attack on what turned out to be innocent spirits who wanted to aid the Stakes. One of the members were sent to the Detendimension as a last-ditch effort to seal away the spirits of G.R.A.Z.. * Kerry Hubbard (Richard Newman): The mayor of Woodroot, and the uncle/father of Angela and Pamela respectively. He served as an aid to the leader of the Stakes, but amidst a stagnating war, the leader lost his mind and fed info to Kerry that nurtured their breakup. The experience left him embittered and reluctant to talk about his past. He often engages in bizarre activities such as frequent campouts and making sculptures, which he disguises as symptoms from a midlife crisis. * Curtis Kadic (Martin Short (debut), Roger Dunn): He's the principal at the kids' school and is the father of Tommy and Marie. Curtis is an eccentric and strict individual, but is also reasonable. He seems to have it out for the Halloween Kids but begrudgingly asks for help solving issues that usually effect him and the school. Curtis used to be part of the Raven Stakes, but blaming Kerry for the coup, he dropped out and opted to try and make a simple living for himself, which got compromised when G.R.A.Z. possessed his wife and made her leave him. He is spiteful toward Kerry and refuses to be friends with anyone, electing to spend more time with his children. * Lars Perrino (Danny Wells): Francis' father and the current successor to the Perrino estate. He got convicted following the disbandment of the Stakes due to mounting charges from his mafia days, but got out after agreeing to a plea bargain where he would reveal the locations of still-active members of his crime family. He served his family and the Stakes and is very similar to his daughter in terms of interests and means of operating. * Tito Perrino (Len Carlson): Lars' father who held the same mentality as the Elites back during the heyday of the Stakes. He agreed to not go after any member of the Stakes since Lars was a member and would prevent them from interfering with whatever Tito had planned. In his prime, Tito was a feared man, but gradually lost his grip on the town following numerous failures. * Ned Gamble (Hiro Kanagawa, imitating Jerry Seinfeld): The brains of the team. He rarely speaks unless it's to someone of an equal intellect. He has a bit of an ego problem and tends to annoy the other members just by being present in the room, so to annoy him back, they often laugh off whatever ideas he has, so long as they could salvage a plan of their own. Became a math teacher at Woodrot Jr. High. * Bob Sheppard (Howard Jerome): The team's brawn. For a time, he was the strongest man in Woodrot, best known for his dexterity and better resistance to pain. He was later involved in a car accident that nearly crippled him and demoted himself to cooking, allowing him time to recover. He became a history teacher at Woodrot Jr. High. * Boris Slaatsky (Long John Baldry): A Russian-Canadian who acts as a disguise specialist. He is able to maintain many personalities, which enable him to pull off whatever disguise he has on for the day. Boris was reportedly the one person who realized the leader of the Stakes was losing his grip on reality, so he turned it on Boris and made the others alienate him. He got trapped in the Detendimension in an attempt to stop the Stake's leader. G.R.A.Z. Ghostly Revenge Alliance... Zoinks!. The main antagonists of the series. * Headless Inspectre (Elliot Gould): The Headless Inspectre is the ghost of Blaine Matson, a renowned health inspector from the 1950s. He was killed in 1971 by a vengeful butcher after Blaine gave him a poor review. Prior to this, he practiced heavily in black magic to ensure that he would maintain power and return to humanity in some form were anything to happen to him. Because of this, his severed head became cursed and his spirit roamed free until the Raven Stakes imprisoned it in a book, which Damien freed him from. Blaine's head was buried beneath an oak tree set on the highest point in Woodrot. To whomever reunites his head with his body, he will become their servant, only for the reverse to happen. * Sorrow (Michael Donovan): Ghost of Richard Darsey, the leader of the Raven Stakes. He was the son of the butcher that killed Blaine Matson. Following his father's conviction, Richard walked the line between sanity and insanity, gradually going towards the latter after the Headless Inspectre was discovered. In a misguided attempt at saving his team from death, he tried to get them to slaughter helpless spirits as a distraction, but they saw through it and got sent to the Detendimension while trying to stop the Headless Inspectre. Richard died from cardiac arrest and succumbed to the influence of the Headless Inspectre. * Damien Gordon (Peter Oldring): A former member of the Perrino Elites. He was actually a former target for them, being an annoying bully, and became their slave as punishment for his prior deeds. Damien served as the antagonist of the first episode, where he unwittingly reactivated a transfer mechanism in an arcade cabinet while trying to get a high score. He was hated by the Elites and even the Halloween Kids, with both wasting no time in chastising him for the slightest bout of idiocy. After the first season, Damien defects to G.R.A.Z. with the promise of destroying them both. He tries to make peace with the Elites and Halloween Kids to determine if he should go through with destroying them, they turn him down and he becomes fully integrated into G.R.A.Z.. Damien reportedly died in the series finale. Other Characters * Stephy Hicks (Stacey DePass): Julie's teenaged cousin. Stephy is a cool-collected individual who tries to apply rationality to everything, save for anything in the realm of what the Halloween Kids deal with since she herself was once a figure in it. She originally appeared in Creature Double Feature as a tragic antagonist, where she was part of an experiment that turned her into a chimera-like monster, only for the Halloween Kids to return her to normal. Stephy is seen very infrequently and usually gives Julie and others advice, but there're times where she goes with the Halloween Kids on their journeys, acting like a chauffeur or guide. * Angel Horvath (Kelly Sheridan): Stephy's best friend. She has made non-vocal cameos throughout the first season, typically as a bystander but played a major role in Super Duper Sized as an antagonist. She was a vein individual who downplayed everyone who lacked physical beauty or were at an unhealthy weight, but after her experience as a fast-food blob, she turned on mocking said archetypes. * Pamela Hubbard (Tracey Moore): Angela's cousin. Pamela is an optimistic girl who's the biggest supporter of the Halloween Kids. She is loyal to her cousin Angela, in spite of her mean attitude towards her. * Hope Chapley (Ellen Ray Hennessy): The kids' elderly teacher. She is a somewhat strict figure, but holds a lax dialect when the kids argue with one another, allowing her to record them to watch later as a substitute for television. Hope seems to have a crush on Curtis and frequently flirts with him. Whether he accepts these flirtations depends on the circumstance, the rest of the time he considers her to be a good friend. * Ms. Werzog (David Lander): The school's art teacher and auditorium director. She made the most appearances in the first season, and had very few since then. It's strongly implied that she's actually a man in disguise, and is part of the witness protection program. Episodes *Indicates its an adaptation from one of the books. Pilots Season 1 Season 2 Websiodes Character Introductions Shorts that appeared on the show's website that introduced newcomers to prominent characters through comedic shorts. They were later compiled into one full episode. Shorts Home Media The first season was released on DVD in Canada by KaBoom! Entertainment in 2004. Both seasons and the webisodes were released on DVD in Australia through Anchor Bay Entertainment in 2005.